Wednesday, November 01, 2017

Black on Black ARP Omni 2 Vintage Synthesizer In Excellent Condition

"For your consideration is a fully restored ARP Omni 2 in excellent operational and cosmetic condition. This unit has the original all-black switch cap design. I also have another Omni 2 for sale with the late orange and white cap design, please see my other listings. Both units were restored simultaneously.

This instrument was disassembled down to the bare chassis for a thorough cleaning. The transformer and all sliders were desoldered from their respective boards. The keyboard was dismantled down to its bare chassis, including removal of the contact circuit board and bus bar. The outer and keyboard chassis and all boards were washed to remove any dirt or gunk accumulation. The felt strips under the lid on the outer chassis were replaced. All electrolytic and tantalum capacitors on all boards (over 100 total) were replaced with brand new electrolytics. Any defective parts such as ICs, semiconductors, passive components, and the power inlet/switch were replaced. The 4075 filter modification was performed to correct the original factory design error and allow the full frequency response from the filter. Every slider was disassembled and the slider components were thoroughly cleaned, lubricated and reassembled. The switches and switch caps were cleaned. Any missing or broken keyboard J-wires were removed and properly replaced. Each J-wire was straightened and polished, as was the keyboard bus bar. The keyboard action was straightened and leveled and the bushings were replaced. All keys were soaked, dried and hand polished to a gloss. All internal ribbon connector pins were cleaned. The pins on the balanced output were polished. All input and output jack hardware was stripped of any oxidation or corrosion. The top of the instrument lid was chemically stripped, sanded down to the bare metal to remove any imperfections, and roller-painted with two coats of primer and paint resulting in a finish indistinguishable from the original powder coating in color and texture. This is contrast to most other Omni 2s for sale whose lid top is badly scratched, scraped and/or rusted, revealing the age and use/abuse of the instrument. The side panels were removed and replaced with fine maple wood ends of the proper thickness and stained to imitate the look of the original ARP leather panels. This alone adds a very refined look to the unit. The power supply was reassembled with new insulators and fresh thermal compound for the heat sink. The unit was carefully reassembled and reconnected, and all factory calibrations were performed. A full set of slider caps was installed.

Two of the originally black switch caps were changed to white caps to imitate the look of the late Omni 2 panel and allow the synthesizer section to be more easily identified. The two black caps will be included in case the original all-black cap switch lineup is preferred. Some believe an Omni 2 has to have the orange/white switch combination, but this unit is great fun to look at and operate, in particular because of the black/white switch look.

As a result of the appearance improvements made to this instrument, it looks virtually brand new from the player’s position and from either side. There may be some signs of wear on the rear panel and/or bottom of the chassis which were not addressed, but for all practical purposes the unit is in enviable functional and physical shape.

I have disassembled, electronically and cosmetically rebuilt, and collected a number of vintage keyboard instruments of complexity above and below that of this one and can guarantee this Omni 2 will perform at the top of its capabilities, and look and feel fantastic while doing it.

Add some vintage ARP Omni 2 mojo to your old or new productions with this properly restored gem. It is in better condition than most you will find for sale anywhere. Bid with confidence. The Omni 2 will be packed in plenty bubble wrap and other padding inside a strong cardboard box. An IEC power cord (but no other accessories) will be included. Feel free to ask questions at any time. Shipping weight will be on the order of 45 pounds."